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Newt Gingrich

Former House Speaker; Chairman of Gingrich 360

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Biden must defend America’s southern border, too

Jan 3

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President Biden has made the defense of sovereign borders a key pillar of his foreign policy from Israel to Ukraine. Many Republicans, however, insist that America’s southern border needs to be defended, too.

Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich reviews American opinion surveys on immigration and concludes that both Biden and House Republicans will face difficult choices in 2024. Gingrich argues that while it is the right thing to defend the Ukrainian and Israeli borders, it must also be the right thing to defend the U.S.-Mexico border.

When the Congress comes back into session for the 2024 cycle, which of course is an election year, and ask all sorts of very challenging questions, I think there are two where the House Republicans are going to play a pivotal role if they have the nerve to stick to their guns. Their biggest pressure is going to be initially over the issue of aid to Israel, and Ukraine, and whether or not in order for President Biden to get the money he wants, he has to agree to very dramatic changes in our policy on the border.

Biden’s illegal immigration policy and Biden’s illegal immigrants have created a system which is simply not sustainable. The American people know that. That’s why in a poll, which we recently did at the America’s New Majority Project, which is available at Americasnewmajorityproject.com, 2,000 registered voters–we asked people key questions about the border and about illegal immigration.

The responses are really pretty overwhelming. Let me just give you a couple of them. 77% of the American people believe we need to hire more border agents so we can actually have control of the border. 74% believe that we have to create stronger ground rules for people claiming asylum. Right now, people just show up and say, gee, I feel really threatened, take me in. Well, the American people don’t want that, they’re for real asylum for people who are in real danger. But they don’t want to use that just as an excuse to come in. 73% of the country believes that businesses should have to use E-Verify, the government online program, to make sure that people they’re hiring are legally in United States.

When the Congress comes back into session for the 2024 cycle, which of course is an election year, and ask all sorts of very challenging questions, I think there are two where the House Republicans are going to play a pivotal role if they have the nerve to stick to their guns. Their biggest pressure is going to be initially over the issue of aid to Israel, and Ukraine, and whether or not in order for President Biden to get the money he wants, he has to agree to very dramatic changes in our policy on the border. Biden’s illegal immigration policy and Biden’s illegal immigrants have created a system which is simply not sustainable. The American people know that. That’s why in a poll, which we recently did at the America’s New Majority Project, which is available at Americasnewmajorityproject.com, 2,000 registered voters, we asked people key questions about the border and about illegal immigration. The responses are really pretty overwhelming. Let me just give you a couple of them. 77% of the American people believe we need to hire more border agents so we can actually have control of the border. 74% believe that we have to create stronger ground rules for people claiming asylum. Right now, people just show up and say, gee, I feel really threatened, take me in. Well, the American people don’t want that, they’re for real asylum for people who are in real danger. But they don’t want to use that just as an excuse to come in. 73% of the country believes that businesses should have to use E-Verify, the government online program, to make sure that people they’re hiring are legally in United States. People, by the way, favor legal immigration, something which Calista and I have been working on in a new series called Journey to America. But we believe also, like most Americans, that illegal immigration is in fact dangerous and destructive. Well the American people believe that, and they think if you’re a legal immigrant, you ought to be able to get a job. And that’s what the E-Verify will allow. But if you’re here illegally, then you shouldn’t be able to get a job, and that’s what E-Verify would block. You go through item after item, 70-something percent, for example, favor that you have to come in as an as an asylum seeker only through designated ports. You can’t just randomly cross the border, that would be a huge change. Now, what’s happening is fascinating. In the Senate, there are several Republicans who are just desperate to get to a deal. They don’t actually care what’s in the deal. One of them has even proposed that the first 3,000 illegal immigrants a day could come in, and then we’d get tough. Now, think about that. That’s a million a year. And what you see is some people who think even a bad deal is really good, because it proves we’re bipartisan and we can make a deal. Well, I believe the opposite. I’m with the American people, we need real change. And President Biden is going to face a huge choice at the beginning of January. He wants money for Ukraine, and I happen to support trying to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine, I think it’d be very dangerous for the world if Putin manages to win. So I’m in favor of it. But at the same time, I’m in favor of the American border being controlled. Virtually all of us want to help Israel, because we believe the country has the right to survive, and that the terrorist organization Hamas has been horrifying in the things they’ve done to people. And I’m for that, and I was delighted that under speaker Mike Johnson, the House actually passed aid to Israel, with offsets by cutting the cost of the Internal Revenue Service in order to pay for the aid so it did not affect the budget. Now, President Biden wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to have money for the things he cares about. And he wants to do nothing on the border. That’s not going to work. And one of the most important things we’re going to be watching in this new year is whether or not the House Republicans can calmly insist that we’re going to fix the border in the United States, as well as trying to protect the border in Israel and Ukraine. I think this is a historic moment. I think it’s very important. And I hope like me, you’ll be watching carefully, and you’ll let your congressmen, your Senators know, that you want the American border protected, as well as the Israeli and Ukrainian border.

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